Children votes Kalam as Green Ambassador

New Delhi, Dec 8 : Children from all over India has chosen former Indian President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam as 'Bharat Ka Paryavaran' (Green) Ambassador.

Kalam will be felicitated Wednesday here by the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

The vote for India's Paryavaran Ambassador Campaign to generate awareness on climate change and sustainability issues was launched by President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on World Environment day, 2008.

It was an initiative of Ministry of Environment and forests implemented by Center for Environmental Education (CEE) in partnership with ArcelorMittal.

The aim of the campaign was to spread awareness about climate change its causes and effects The campaign was implemented across the country .Any individual could be voted as the Ambassador to lead the movement.

A poster was prepared saying 'Help choose a person who can be the face of the environment, who can create greater awareness and encourage all of us to make the right choice for growth with sustainability...No List, Any Name'.

There were no categories for the section of capable candidates, the choice ranged from a teacher to student, actor, politician, any one who voter thought can work for environment issues and can make people understand the implication of climate change. In short, it was a search for a truly valued individual who genuinely relates to people and is working to preserve environment.

The campaign also meant to educate children on climate change through CEE's climate change education programme.

CEE , to involve students in the campaign, designed a 'Climate Change Education Package'. It was sent to schools and the children were taught about climate change from the material provided.

The package was prepared in 15 languages in 20,000 schools .Around two lakh students participated in over 200 meetings, trainings and workshops.